Ernie Els desperate to make it into FedExCup Playoffs via the Wyndham Championship
Ernie Els’s fate in next week’s FedExCup playoffs is hanging by a thread as the South African is lurking just at the outskirts of the Top-125 who would qualify for the first event of the leg, The Barclays.
Els has suffered drastically in the current season, not posting a single win in his otherwise stellar career, and is now without a victory for the last almost one year after he lifted his last career title at the South Africa Open in December 2010.
"This really is last-chance saloon," the South African former world number one said on his official website. "The simple fact is if I play well, I'm in (the playoffs) and if I play poorly, I'm more than likely not. This is traditionally a pretty low-scoring
week and I need to find a way to get something going."
Els failed to make the cut at last week’s PGA Championship which delivered a severe blow to his prospects in the upcoming FedExCup Playoffs and is now poised at 126 in the FedExCup Rankings and number 33 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
Els opened up his first round with a disappointing four-over, 74 and fell from another lopsided round on the second day to miss the cut in the last major event of the year. This was the third consecutive major of the year when the former three-time major
winner has missed the cut. He was able to make the cut at the Masters in Augusta earlier in the year where he went over to finish for another sloppy joint 47th.
The 41-year-old South African, who was once known for his blistering drives off the tee, is now hoping to post a strong performance at the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour this week, as his last attempt to make it into the lucrative $10-million Playoffs.
"I had a top-10 finish in 1997, but that was on a different golf course," as Els recalled his previous engagement in the Wyndham Championship and was the only occasion where he actually played in the tournament. "Another top-10 here would be a pretty good
result for me, especially given the circumstances."
Pulling in a staggering 64 professional titles in his career which spans more than two decades, Els is considered one of the phenomenal South Africans on the tour right now. Playing both on the PGA Tour as well as on the European Tour, Els has won three
major events including the US Open in 1994 and 1997 and the Open Championship in 2002.
Most part of Els career was overtaken by his son’s dreadful Autism disease which diverted his attention away from his primary obligation. He later went over to put together a non-profit foundation to determine the causes and remedies for the disease since
then.
The burly South African is also known as the “Big Easy” for his imposing physical presence which is in total contrast to his lofty laid-back swing.
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